Teen eyewitness testifies at Ohio rape trial

March 15, 2013News Extra

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — A teenager was granted immunity from prosecution today before testifying he saw a friend perform a sexual act on a 16-year-old girl after a party in eastern Ohio last summer.

The judge granted Mark Cole immunity in juvenile court before he testified at the trial of two high school football players charged with raping the West Virginia girl. Cole initially had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against testifying for fear of self-incrimination.

Testimony from Cole and two other teenage boys who watched the alleged attacks is a crucial part of the state’s evidence because the girl says she doesn’t remember what happened. Two of the boys took video and photos of the alleged attacks, then later deleted them.